By Carly Fehler
MENOMONIE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's and women's indoor track and field teams headed to UW-Stout this weekend to compete at the Warren Bowlus Multi & Open track meet. Competition began on Friday with the multi-event athletes and proved to be another positive step forward for the team.
Highlights include a dominating performance delivered by Jessie Reineck (Sr. – Greenville, WI/Fox Valley Lutheran), who ran 57.39 in the 400-meter dash and currently leads the nation in that event. She's also ranked fourth in 200 meter dash, after running 25.46 last week.
The sprinters on the women's side delivered an all-around solid performance in the 60-meter dash, with half of the spots in the final being taken by Blugolds. Kelsey Worachek (Jr. – Appleton, WI/Xavier) led the pack with a second place finish in the 60, running 7.85, and sits 11th in country. Worachek also ran a personal best of 26.25 in the 200-meter dash, which currently puts her in the top 25 in Division III.
Other top performers were Stephanie Frempong-Longdon (Sr. -Minnetrista, MN/Waconia) who won the 60 hurdles in a time of 9.61 while Sasha Riley (Fr. – Fairmont, MN) continues her bright first-year campaign by winning the 600-meter race in a time of 1:40.63. Tommie Brenner (So. – Reedsburg, WI) also turned in a winning performance winning the pole vault with a clearance of 3.41 meters. She currently sits 15th in the nation.
The long history of talented distance runners at UW-Eau Claire looks to have bright future on both the men's and women's side, with a variety of young talent stepping up already this season. The Blugolds swept the podium this week in the 3,000 meter race, with Samantha Slattery (Fr. – Waunakee, WI) (10:39.43), Callie Fischer (Jr. – Oneida, WI/Ashwaubenon) (10:42.13), and Lexie Tremble (So. – Muskego, WI) (10:42.15) finishing 1-2-3.
The men shined on the distance side this week, with a sweep of the 800-meter race by Kyler Lueck Fr. – Germantown, WI/Wisconsin Lutheran) (1:56.26), Ryan Graham (Sr. – Maple Grove, MN) (1:56.72), and Zach Wawrzyniakowski (Sr. – Burlington, WI) (1:58.25), finishing 1-2-3. Lueck and Graham currently sit 17th and 24th in the country.
John Vodacek (Sr. – New Auburn, WI/Bloomer) and Darin Lau (Jr. – Eau Claire, WI/Immanuel) went 1-2 in the 3,000-meter race, with times of 8:24.10 and 8:26.21 respectively. They sit fourth and sixth in the nation.
Matt Cooper (Sr. – Ashwaubenon, WI) won the men's mile with a time of 4:18.92, which places him 18th in the country.
It goes without saying that there is a lot to be excited about with this team as a whole, especially this early in the season. The Blugolds will head to Stevens Point next week Saturday for the Pointer Invite.
